Hold Congress Accountable

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Senator Mike Lee: “The best thing we can do in Congress is to withhold funds, for Congress to exercise its power of the purse.”

Senator Mike Lee: “The best thing we can do in Congress is to withhold funds, for Congress to exercise its power of the purse.”

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is a scholar of our Constitution as well as an advocate for freedom. Over the years, the Obama Administration has unilaterally issued hundreds of rules impacting all aspects of our governing laws – environment, immigration, welfare, war, ObamaCare and the list goes on. Senator Lee knows that Congress has the power of the purse and Congress should withhold funds when the President makes unilateral changes, modifies or ignores existing laws. Recently Lee said, “The best thing we can do in Congress is to withhold funds, for Congress to exercise its power of the purse.”

James Madison, the intellectual force in the creation of our Constitution, recognized Congress had the ultimate power of the purse. In The Federalist No. 58, Madison wrote:

The House of Representatives cannot only refuse, but they alone can propose the supplies requisite for the support of government. They, in a word, hold the purse — that powerful instrument by which we behold, in the history of the British constitution, an infant and humble representation of the people gradually enlarging the sphere of its activity and importance, and finally reducing, as far as it seems to have wished, all overgrown prerogatives of the other branches of the government. This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure.

Madison referred to the power of the British House of Commons to control taxing and spending. For over 500 years, kings and parliaments debated and fought over the authority and power to tax. Incrementally, Parliament reduced the powers of the king and obtained a series of charters and legislation protecting the property of nobles and ultimately the citizens of England. Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Bill of Rights secured the rights of Englishmen. The Bill of Rights decreed:

“That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal.”

Thus, by the end of the 17th Century, the “power of the purse” was vested in the House of Commons. Today, in America, Congress has the Constitutional power to withhold funds.

President Obama, as well as many of our previous Presidents, has expanded and abused his power. It is now time for Congress to use their power of the purse to stop the unilateral, power-plays being made by the Obama Administration. Again, Madison appreciated the ultimate power of Congress:

This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure.

Sen. Lee and all the other's who follow, believe in Lee Atwater 's NeoCon theology should stop and reflect what Atwater stated on his last moments. Asking for absolution after the fact and as eternal punishment is to be decided is maybe too late.

Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli addressed the assembly at FreePAC Kentucky 2014. Cuccinelli is helping FreedomWorks and Senator Rand Paul sue the federal government to protect the privacy of all Americans against the massive NSA domestic spying program.

Washington, DC- President Obama finally released his Fiscal Year 2015 budget, reported to increase spending by 63 percent and add $8.3 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years. The increased spending will be paid for by $1.8 trillion in new taxes, on top of the $1.7 trillion in new taxes since Obama has entered the Oval Office.

President Obama continues to lose the youth’s support-and fast. Just a few months ago, Harvard released a poll showing that 57% of Millennials disapproved of ObamaCare. That same poll showed that 54% of Americans from ages 18-29 disapproved of Obama, while only 41% approved. These statistics aren’t all that surprising, as Obama has made things extremely hard for the average millennial in his first 5 years. Student loan debt, job availability, ObamaCare and the overall national debt have crippled America’s youth.

President Obama cited Ohio Governor John Kasich’s embrace of the Obamacare Medicaid expansion as proof the law works during two separate November 14 speeches, flailing to defend his signature legislative achievement while it hikes insurance costs nationwide and causes millions to lose their policies.

Thanks to the high-profile efforts of Senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and others, including the House majority, there is a stark contrast between the two major parties regarding Obamacare. One party is all-in for it, the other is indelibly etched in the public mind totally opposing it. Republicans would be foolish to change that, but even as Obamacare implodes, that's just what some are calling on them to do.

Governor Kasich (R-OH) is taking flak from conservatives for his plan to expand Medicaid in his state. Not only have his actions been foolish and irresponsible, but he also violated the principle of representative government and even broke the law in order to implement it.

As you know if you’ve read my posts here, I usually don’t write about politics. Today, I want to make a partial exception. Mike Lee, the fine Senator from Utah, gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation that ought to command your attention for a few days.